1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a system and a method for obtaining information regarding a financial transaction instrument, and more particularly, to a system and a method for wirelessly obtaining a balance on a pre-paid gift card via a mobile communication device.
2. Related Art
Consumers very often use financial transaction instruments as convenient forms of payment for purchases of goods and/or services (“goods/services”). A “financial transaction instrument,” also referred to herein as a “card,” may be any of the following: a traditional “plastic” transaction card (e.g., a credit card, a charge card, a debit card, a gift card, a pre-paid or stored-value card, or the like); a titanium-containing, or other metal-containing, transaction card; a clear or translucent transaction card; a foldable or otherwise unconventionally-sized transaction card; a radio-frequency-enabled transaction card; or any other type of card used in connection with a financial transaction.
A financial transaction instrument may be configured with electronic functionality. For example, such an instrument can have electronic circuitry that is printed or otherwise incorporated onto or within it (commonly being referred to as a “smart card”), or may be a fob-type device having a transponder and a radio-frequency identification (“RFID”) reader. Additionally, a financial transaction instrument may be magnetically encoded with information, such as through use of a magnetic stripe, for example. Optionally, a financial transaction instrument may include a visible card identification number (“CID”) uniquely identifying a corresponding transaction account, in case the transaction instrument cannot easily be read electronically or magnetically.
A “transaction account,” as used herein, refers to an account associated with an open-account system or a closed-account system, which are discussed in more detail below. A transaction account may exist in a physical or a non-physical embodiment. For example, a transaction account may be distributed in a non-physical embodiment such as an account number, a frequent-flyer account, a telephone calling account, or the like. Furthermore, a physical embodiment of a transaction account may be distributed as a financial transaction instrument.
“Open cards” are financial transaction instruments associated with an open-account system and generally are accepted by different merchants. Examples of open cards include the American Express®, Visa®, MasterCard® and Discover® cards, which may be used at many different retailers and other businesses. In contrast, “closed cards” are financial transaction instruments associated with a closed-account system and may be restricted to use in a particular store, a particular chain of stores, or a collection of affiliated stores. One example of a closed card is a pre-paid gift card for The Gap®, which typically is purchased at and may only be accepted at The Gap® stores. Note, however, that pre-paid gift cards, also known as stored-value cards, are not limited to closed cards but instead may be open cards issued by, for example, American Express®, Visa®, Discover®, MasterCard®, or the like.
Generally, a merchant that wants to provide customers with the option to pay for goods/services with a particular type of open card will enter into an agreement with the issuer of that type of card (e.g., American Express®, Visa®, Discover®, MasterCard®, or the like). The issuer typically is a financial organization (e.g., American Express®, JPMorgan Chase, MBNA®, Citibank®, or the like) whose card-issuing activities are government regulated.
Because of the wide use of cards by consumers, the types and number of merchants that accept cards has grown and now include, in addition to the more traditional merchants such as stores and restaurants, taxi drivers, doctors, schools, street vendors, on-line vendors, and government agencies, to name a few. Through the use of cards, merchants are able to obtain prompt payment for the purchased goods/services.
Issuers have a financial incentive to contract with as many merchants as possible to accept their cards. Typically, an issuer is paid a so-called “discount rate” by each merchant signed up to accept payment using the issuer's type of card. The discount rate may be, for example, a flat rate paid periodically or a rate based on the merchant's net sales that are paid for using the issuer's type of card.
In order to convince merchants to accept its card, an issuer may provide the merchants with assistance with the set-up process, at no cost to the merchants. The set-up process may include: providing the merchants with point-of-sale (“POS”) devices, including hardware and software for reading cards; providing training to employees of the merchants as to how to use the POS devices; providing communication equipment and establishing communication procedures for obtaining quick payment authorizations; and troubleshooting services.
A POS device may be any electronic device used by a merchant to input information regarding a purchase as well as other information, such as information regarding the merchant, information for identifying a financial transaction account from which payment for the purchase is to be obtained, etc. For example, the input information may include a dollar amount of the purchase and identification information electronically and/or magnetically read from a card used to make the purchase. Optionally, the identification information may be manually input at the POS device based on a visible CID. The POS device transmits the purchase information and the identification information to the issuer's computer system, which identifies the financial transaction account and makes a determination of whether the purchase is approved or rejected based on account information regarding the financial transaction account. The issuer's computer system then transmits a message back to the POS device regarding the purchase. Examples of messages sent between the POS device and the issuer's computer system include: a request for authorization, an authorization approval or rejection; an instruction to obtain additional identification to verify the identity of the person presenting the card; a message indicating that the financial transaction account has reached a maximum aggregate dollar amount; etc.
Often, a merchant wants to know the balance of funds remaining for a gift or other stored-value card (referred to herein as an “SVC”), such as a pre-paid gift card, before the merchant commences a purchase transaction with the SVC. This information would allow the merchant easily to determine whether the SVC has sufficient funds to pay for the item(s) to be purchased without having to go through the steps of an actual purchase transaction. In a typical purchase transaction, the merchant uses a POS device in electronic communication with the issuer's computer system to submit a request for authorization of the purchase to be made with the SVC, and obtains a reply via the POS device either approving or denying the request. When an SVC transaction is denied due to an insufficient balance of funds remaining for the SVC, it can subject the customer to embarrassment and public humiliation, and can subject the merchant to discomfort as well at having to embarrass the customer. Such bad feelings, in turn, may result in the customer refusing to purchase goods/services from the merchant in the future. This can lead to merchants refusing to accept SVCs altogether, as a way to prevent the loss of current and future business from customers whose SVC transactions were denied.
Similarly, a customer who would like to pay for a purchase with an SVC often wants an easy way to determine the balance of funds remaining for the SVC without having to go through an actual purchase transaction. This allows the customer to avoid public embarrassment should the cost of the purchase exceed the balance, and also allows the customer a greater sense of freedom to shop for more expensive items knowing that the balance is sufficient to cover the costs of those items.
Given the foregoing, what is needed is a system, a method, and a computer program product for quickly and easily providing a balance of funds remaining for an SVC without requiring an actual purchase transaction to take place.